


Warmth Beyond Measure

by rudigersmooch



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: First Kiss, Hot Springs & Onsen, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26428270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudigersmooch/pseuds/rudigersmooch
Summary: Poe takes Finn to a hot spring.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn
Comments: 10
Kudos: 80
Collections: pine4pine 2020





	Warmth Beyond Measure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nununununu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nununununu/gifts).



> Hello recip!
> 
> I hope you enjoy this. I had a lot of fun writing the trope-y pining goodness of it, and I hope it was what you're looking for!
> 
> Set right after the final movie.

Sometimes, it was hard being Poe’s friend.

“You want to…what?” Finn asked, because in all the bustle of celebration around them, it was completely possible he’d misheard. He was hoping he’d misheard. “Did you say ‘bathe in a swamp’?”

“It’s not a swamp,” Poe corrected as he tugged Finn out of the way of a boisterous group of pilots. “Okay, yes, technically it’s called ‘Kaspu Swamp,’ but you’re not actually bathing in the swamp. There are just, you know, good minerals and stuff in the mud.”

“But there’s mud?”

“You wash it off afterward,” Poe said earnestly. “It’s very relaxing. Nice and quiet.”

“And _you_ want to go there?” Finn checked, still unable to believe it. Poe had been acting weird ever since Rey had left their little group hug, repeatedly turning down celebratory toasts and then hugging Finn close again and again when he strayed any further away than arm’s reach. The hugging wasn’t that weird by itself, but there had been a strange sort of desperation to it today, between the way Poe’s fingers clenched in his jacket and the way his arms went stiff like steel across his shoulders. Finn couldn’t enjoy it like he usually did, not when something was wrong with Poe even while the entire galaxy around them was celebrating.

“You don’t have to come with,” Poe said, and that sealed it. 

Finn might not have been that enthused about apparently rolling around in mud and then bathing, _with Poe_ , but if there was one thing he’d learned about friendship, it was that friends stayed when something was wrong.

“It sounds like fun,” Finn lied, and he tried to calm the swirling in his gut, hoping it was just nerves.

  


* * *

  


Finn had learned a few other things about friendship since he’d joined the Resistance, and one of the other major things hit him once they’d actually arrived at Kaspu Swamp. The place lived up to its name; before they’d gotten within ten yards of the grand wooden building sitting on its raised platform, there had been mud sucking at the soles of his boots and the smell of wet moss filling the air, and there were animal sounds all around them too, croaks and caws and coos. While it wasn’t terrible, exactly, it wasn’t doing much to keep his mind off why they were here. 

If it had been anybody but Poe asking him here, it wouldn’t have been a big deal—Finn had spent his life in the ‘trooper barracks, and showering with his fellow soldiers was so common that it had taken weeks before he’d realized that the free parts of the universe didn’t always do those things as a group. If it had been anyone but Poe, Finn’s reluctance would’ve been entirely related to the mud, and the fact that he could still sort of taste the grit and sand in his mouth from when he’d first landed on Jakku. Since it was Poe, however, he had to confront the fact that no amount of mud was actually stopping him from being excited to be here, and that was a big problem.

Friends definitely, _definitely_ didn’t ogle each other when they were changing, but Finn had been failing at that aspect of friendship since the beginning.

It had started out with quick glances. He’d never seen anyone like Poe up close, because ‘troopers were on strict diets and exercise regimens to keep them in peak physical shape, and the result was either bodies thick with muscle or thin from lack of indulgence. Poe was in decent shape, but he had a softness around his abdomen that surprised Finn, making him want to reach out and measure the shape of it with his fingers. By the first time Finn had seen Poe without a shirt, they’d already hugged dozens of times; Finn knew just how warm Poe was, whether it was from body heat or the sound of his laugh, and the temptation to get closer was almost as strong as the temptation to run far away.

By the time Finn had lost count of how often he’d seen Poe in various states of undress, the glances were no longer quick; they were non-existent, because the guilt had appeared once Finn realized he could picture Poe in perfect clarity when his eyes were shut. The worst part: that that’s where his mind went automatically whenever the opportunity presented itself. He thought by now that he could recount every one of Poe’s scars with an alarming amount of detail, and though he’d never done it in real life, he’d mapped their texture with his lips many times in his dreams.

In short: Poe wanting to bathe with him, sitting close as good friends did, might just kill him, and there was no way out.

“Finn? Are you about ready to go in?”

Finn jerked his head up from watching his hands twisting around his towel, and he regretted it immediately. Poe was standing in front of him in a robe that barely came down to mid-thigh and that peeked open over his chest, revealing pale golden skin and a light dusting of black hair everywhere Finn could possibly look.

Finn revised his earlier conclusion: this would _definitely_ kill him.

“Poe…” Finn started, wracking his brain to think of what he should say. The entire reason he was here was because Poe needed him—but he probably didn’t need Finn losing his head and saying something he couldn’t take back. “About the mud…”

 _Get in, I’ll join you in a second, we need to talk, are you okay_ was what he’d meant to say, but Poe interrupted him with a laugh.

“Aw, buddy, I wouldn’t do that to you. I just paid for the hot spring part.”

“That’s almost worse,” Finn muttered, then he sighed and shrugged out of his shirt. Once he’d set that aside, he reached for his belt, only for Poe to make a strangled sort of noise. Finn immediately whipped his head up to look at him in concern.

For the first time Finn could remember, Poe wasn’t looking back at him.

“Ah—right. I’ll just be outside. See you in a few.”

Finn nodded, but there was an ache in his chest as he watched Poe leave, feeling like he was missing something important.

  


* * *

  


The wall of steam that greeted Finn when he stepped out of the changing room smelled like minerals and herbs, and the stone path was cool and damp underneath his bare feet. There were lights speckled around the path to guide his way in the near-darkness, each one surrounded by the florescent moss they’d seen on their way in, and despite himself, Finn had to admit it was beautiful. There weren’t many people around—too busy celebrating the fall of the First Order with their loved ones, no doubt—but when Poe waved at him from a small pool to his left, Finn surprised himself by not wishing for a crowd. Poe’s hair had gone even curlier from the steam of the pool, and there was a smile on his face, even though it looked slightly strained. Finn wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else, and he certainly didn’t want anyone else nearby. 

Finn tugged his robe off and sank into the water, enjoying the pleasant heat and the way the bubbles popped against his skin. Once he’d settled, he looked at Poe expectantly.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Who said there’s anything wrong?”

Finn gave him a look, and Poe held up his hands defensively.

“I swear, there’s nothing wrong! I just wanted to talk to you. Uh, privately.” Poe cleared his throat and dropped his hands back into the water, his gaze following.

Despite his words, they sat in silence long enough enough for Finn to count to thirty. Just when he was starting to wonder if maybe Poe was expecting him to start, Poe finally spoke.

“When we were on Exegol—when you were on the Destroyer…I thought you were going to die, Finn. That I wouldn’t get there in time.” Poe shook his head, seemingly at himself. “I didn’t get there in time, actually—General Lando did.”

Finn didn’t understand why Poe suddenly looked so guilty, when all Finn felt was relief.

“You were a little busy, and I’m fine.”

“I know.” Poe shrugged, and then he looked up. His expression was determined, like he was prepared to face an entire squad of troopers down. “I just felt like it was a little silly, with everything that’s happened and that could’ve happened, that I’ve spent so long being scared to just talk to you.”

“You’re scared? You?” Finn tried to ignore that Poe had said he was scared of _him_ ; that way lay nightmares. “Hotshot pilot Poe Dameron? Resistance leader Poe Dameron? Ex-spice-runner Poe Dameron?”

Just like Finn had hoped, Poe laughed. It was an exasperated sound accompanied by Poe flicking water at him, but it was a laugh all the same.

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” Poe shook his head again. He looked—happy, truly happy, and his gaze was soft when he turned back. “Finn—I’m in love with you. I just wanted you to know.”

Finn was shocked into silence, but only for a moment. 

“You had to bring me here to tell me that?” Finn asked, and there was a croak in his throat, not unlike one of this swamp’s damn frogs.

“No, I brought you here because I thought you’d like it.” Poe smiled, but it was tentative. “Do you? Like it, I mean?”

Finn’s head spun. As far as he was concerned, ‘tentative’ and ‘Poe Dameron’ were two things that should never be combined, and the wrongness of it all was at war with the joy singing through his heart. He slid closer, inch by inch, until they were close enough to share the same humid air.

“I’d like anywhere if you were there,” Finn said, and then he reached a hand up, burying his fingers in Poe’s hair like he’d always wanted to do.

Poe surged forward to kiss him, fast enough that the water splashed all on the bank beside them, and Finn kissed him back like his life depended on it. 

He’d never felt warmer.


End file.
